Winston Churchill once said: “You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing, after they have exhausted all the other possibilities.”
That quote comes to mind after Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the General Assembly defied all expectations and came to an agreement Wednesday on the state budget.
To be sure, there isn’t a budget yet — but neither is there a dramatic confrontation looming between the two branches of government, with the state’s prized AAA bond rating hanging in the balance.
The Democratic legislature did not reject the governor’s 233 budget amendments and send the original spending plan back to him with a dare: Sign it or veto it.
Instead, Democrats and Republicans agreed to work together on a revised budget, with the legislature returning to Richmond for a special session May 13 and a budget vote on May 15. (By law, there has to be some time between when the final budget is agreed to and when it’s voted on, so legislators and anyone else can actually read the thing.)
Now, whether this is the right thing is a matter of political taste — Democrats were quite happy with the budget they passed, some Republican activists were jonesing for a veto — but as a practical matter this seems the most desirable outcome.
Bond markets won’t be spooked by a first-ever gubernatorial veto of a Virginia budget. Local governments, which are always antsy about how much money they’re going to get, will at least have a date certain on which they’ll know.
Earlier in the day, House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah County, expressed the hope that “cooler heads will prevail.” It sounds as if they did.
How about that?
What had been billed as a dramatic veto session turned out to be pretty anticlimactic with just one exception.
The budget conflict effectively got worked out before the General Assembly even gaveled into session, thus sparing legislators the hassle of voting on all those gubernatorial amendments.
Legislators had been prepared to stay in Richmond several days. Instead, they wrapped up their work in less than one. This is not an original observation: The strongest caucus Wednesday wasn’t the Democratic caucus or the Republican caucus, it was the “let’s get this done and go home” caucus.
It’s rare for Virginia legislators to override a governor’s veto. This year, the General Assembly didn’t even try. To override a veto, legislators would need to introduce a measure to do just that — instead, Democratic legislators did the math and knew they didn’t have the votes, so didn’t even bother to go through the motions.
The best prospects for a veto override were on the bills by Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, and state Sen. Jeremy McPike, D-Prince William County, that would have allowed localities to hold referendums on whether to raise their sales taxes for school construction. Those measures had passed by veto-proof margins of 71-26 in the House and 27-12 in the Senate, with many rural Republicans joining the Democrats. However, apparently not enough of those rural Republicans were willing to embarrass a Republican governor by voting to override Youngkin’s veto. That leaky roof at the elementary school in Prince Edward County — which had become ground zero for much of the debate — will have to stay leaky (unless the county wants to pass a 25% real estate tax increase).
The only real excitement of the day, once it became clear the budget will be punted to a May special session, came on the Senate vote on the governor’s amendments to the bill legalizing so-called electronic skill games. Cardinal’s Markus Schmidt detailed in a story posted Tuesday how the governor’s office had solicited legislators’ feedback on how to amend the bill — then ignored their advice and sent down his own amendments, which intentionally or accidentally had the effect of banning the games virtually everywhere.
The Senate rejected those amendments 34-6 and sent the original bill back to the governor. This seems a strong rebuke of the governor. The top Republican leadership — including Minority Leader Ryan McDougle, R-Hanover County — voted against the governor’s rewrite of the bill. Of the six legislators who voted in the minority, two were Democrats, and two were Republicans who represent districts with casinos, so had a natural interest to limit the spread of the games.
Youngkin could still veto the bill, which he felt didn’t have nearly enough regulation of the games, but the message from even Republicans in the Senate seemed clear: We want this bill. Or at least something like it.
In a statement, the governor’s office said Youngkin still had concerns about some of the provisions of the bill but was open to negotiating the geographical exclusion zones — 35 miles around casinos, racetracks and the Rosie’s gaming facilities, 2,500 feet around schools, churches and day care centers — that effectively blocked the entire state and became a flash point for many legislators. It’s unclear how that would play out procedurally, though.
By day’s end, the governor joined with both Democratic and Republican leaders to talk to journalists, and then issued a formal statement pledging to work together on the budget. It was a remarkable sight, seeing Youngkin standing with Senate Finance Chair Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, who had been his nemesis in blocking the proposed Alexandria arena.
For those political junkies hoping for a political fight for the ages, this ending was as unsatisfying as the finale of “Game of Thrones.” For those who prize comity and stability, this was a spectacular resolution that was far better than anything anyone had publicly envisioned. There will still be plenty of fights ahead over the details of the budget, but Youngkin has already retreated on his biggest proposal — tax cuts. While the temperature outside is rising, the political temperature in Richmond seems to have come down.
In watching that gaggle of legislative leaders and the governor vowing to work together on the budget, it’s impossible to avoid this thought: What if this had happened in January and not April? Or, for that matter, last December, when Youngkin sprang the arena proposal on legislators? It’s obviously too late for that now, but a more collaborative approach from the governor’s office then might have produced different results on that project.
All we know for now is that we’ve avoided an unprecedented gubernatorial veto of the budget.
Politics is often seen as a zero-sum game, so who were the winners and losers out of this? I’m not sure there are losers — at least not yet. Youngkin certainly lost on the skill game amendments, at least today, although proponents could lose if he winds up issuing a veto. On the budget, both parties may find activists grumbling that they didn’t stand their ground and go to political war. I suspect most Virginians, though, are relieved to see some attempt at working something out. Once again, Richmond has just set an example that many wish Washington would follow.